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Kale thought about the days she had spent with Fenworth, the friends she had made since
leaving River Away, and the feeling she had of actually having a destiny, rather than a
life ruled by chance.
“Yes, Regidor, I do.”
43
GOOD NIGHT
“I have guests in every room,” Mistress Meiger said. “You share a room with your
mother, dear. She should be looked after, and who better to take care of her if she be
feeling poorly?”
“She’s been ill?” asked Kale.
“Not ill exactly, but worn out. I don’t understand it all. A lot of things have happened of
late that I don’t understand. I do know your mother loves you, and I’m powerful glad
you’re here to visit, myself. Now get on with you, and take those little creatures with you.
They’re pretty things, but not what I’m used to.”
Kale climbed the stairs without the usual candle. Ardeo sat in her hand and lit the way.
She wanted the minor dragons for company tonight. She didn’t look forward to spending
the night with a stranger.
Dibl stomped his hind feet on her shoulder, and she giggled.
“You’re right, Dibl, this mother is not as strange as the other mother.”
She tapped on the door and opened it when the person within responded, “Come in.”
The o’rant woman who claimed to be her mother sat, propped up, in the bigger bed.
Wedged between a chest of drawers and the wall, another bed, smaller and harder, waited
for Kale. She crossed the room and laid down her bundle. The minor dragons flew about
the room, looking for places to roost. Ardeo landed on the sconce attached to the wall.
Metta circled the room and then returned to her shoulder. Dibl sat on the pillow of her
bed. Gymn landed on the older woman’s lap, tilted his head as if examining her, then
climbed the front of her gown to curl up just below her double chin.
Lyll patted Gymn tentatively. “Well, I can’t say I’ve had much experience with minor
dragons.”
“You need healing,” said Kale. “Gymn is a healing dragon.”
Lyll stroked the little green dragon’s sides. He soon turned over to have his belly rubbed.
Kale grinned, knowing Gymn enjoyed the attention. The smile fell from her face with the
next thought.
If I lie down with them and complete the circle, the healing will be faster and more
complete.
She turned quickly away and hung up her moonbeam cape on a peg. Plunging her hand
into a hollow, she searched for a piece of pink soap she had bought in Prushing. She’d
bought it because Toopka liked pink soap. Tonight Kale thought pink soap sounded like a
wonderful way to wash away her troubles.
As if any color soap would clean up this mess in my mind. I could probably use magic
glasses so I could see clearly. Or magic hearing so I could sort out the truth and not hear
voices that lie. And wouldn’t it be nice if Wulder were to write me a note and leave it on
my pillow? Or better yet, Paladin could be standing in the hallway ready to explain all
this about mothers and renegade dragons. I almost forgot the renegade dragons. That’s
what I’m really supposed to be worried about. The quest is to find and rescue a dragon
caught in Risto’s schemes. I seem to be better at finding mothers.
“I’m going to go take a bath,” she said over her shoulder.
“That’s fine, Kale.” The woman’s voice already sounded more steady.
Dibl never passed up a chance to play in the water. He flew to land on her head. But she
had to call Ardeo to come light her way down the passage to the back steps. Gymn and
Metta stayed with the woman in the bed, which did not surprise Kale. She knew the
dragons would feel mellow and serene after helping someone. Kale had felt that same
contentment herself after being part of the circle of healing.
She stomped down the dark hallway, determined to have a bath, a long soaking bath in
nice warm water.
In the kitchen, hot water kettles sat on the stove. Behind a curtain in a roughly
constructed alcove, a large wooden tub served everyone in the household.
Kale filled the tub with a mixture of hot and cold water. She used the pink soap and a
rough rag. Lying in the tub with her hair clean and her skin scrubbed rosy, she listened to
the noises of the tavern.
The slave girls had been sent to bed long ago. A hired maid carried a few items from the
kitchen to the tavern room, but the time for supper had long passed, and most of the
patrons drank cider and swapped stories. No minstrel performed tonight. On rare
occasions, a traveling entertainer spent the night, paying for his lodging with songs and
stories. On Friday and Saturday nights, several local farmers would come in and play
their fiddles.
But tonight it was quiet, too quiet. Kale had half expected Dar, and maybe even Regidor,
to play for the locals. But she hadn’t seen them since they ate together several hours
before.
“It’s too quiet!” Kale hissed. She abruptly stood, splashing over the rim of the tub as she
climbed out of the water.
“If they won’t sing a song to keep my silly brain from asking myself the same questions
over and over, then I’ll sing a song myself.”
She grabbed a large piece of old blanket and scrubbed at the goose bumps rising on her
body. Dibl flew around her head, getting in the way. She barely opened her mouth and
sang between clenched teeth.
“The general of the day,
He walked among his men.
He called them left,
He called them right,
He called them left again.”
Shivering, she slipped a nightshift over her head and wrapped a warm blanket around her
thin frame. Dibl enticed Ardeo to join him in a silly dance above her head.
“The king, he came to see,
The men he sent to sea.
He called them up,
He called them down,
He called them back to me.”
She sat on a rickety stool to pull on one thick sock. Dibl left the area behind the curtain to
go to the less confining space of the kitchen. Ardeo followed, leaving her in
semidarkness.
“The cook, she had a duck.
She plopped him in the pot.
She dunked him in,
She pulled him out,
Whene’er the duck did squawk.”
Where is everybody when you want a distraction? Toopka chattering in my ear.
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